Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 8

Verses 1-29

The influence of Elisha is incidentally seen in the converse of the king with Gehazi and the restoration of the lands of the Shunammite woman for the sake of the prophet.

Elisha visited Damascus, where occurred an incident full of remarkable interest. Benhadad had sent Hazael to ask if he would recover from his sickness. Elisha's reply was strange in the extreme. He declared the king would recover, but that he would die; that is to say, he affirmed that his death would not come by his sickness, but that it was imminent in another way. The prophet gazed long and fixedly into the eyes of Hazael. It would seem that he saw far more in the soul of the man than any other had seen, perhaps more than the man himself was conscious of. He gazed until Hazael was ashamed, and then the prophet broke into tears. He was conscious that he stood in the presence of a man who would be the instrument of terrible chastisement to Israel in days to come, and he told him all the story. This insight into a human soul again reminds us of the Messiah who came so long afterward. In all probability Hazael's protest was sincere, yet every word was fulfilled.

In the last part of the chapter we have the story of Judah's corruption. Joram walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, whose daughter Athaliah he married. Ahaziah was the son of the union.